Photographers were not allowded into the speech by former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach at the Retired NFL Players Summit and Conference at the Arlington, Texas Hilton Hotel Saturday morning, May 31, 2014, but he briefly spoke to the media in the hallway. (Mona Reeder/The Dallas Morning News)

“The reason I’m up here is to protect Rayfield,” said the co-author of Wright’s 2005 autobiography, Jeannette DeVader, identifying herself as his primary caregiver, with power of attorney for his healthcare. “But I’m also very concerned about the path forward and the creepy people that have crawled out of the woodwork.”

That concern escalated, DeVader said, when she was deluged with phone calls within minutes of last August’s announcement that the NFL had reached a $765 million settlement in a concussion-effects lawsuit filed by several thousand former NFL players.

In January, U.S. District Judge Anita Brody rejected the settlement, expressing concern that it might not cover the expenses of all players who receive a qualifying diagnosis.

Wright, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, was diagnosed with dementia in the spring of 2012, but he and the estimated 80 other former players who attended the summit at the Arlington Hilton don’t know how the concussion suit will play out.

Initial reports were that players with severe brain injuries would receive up to $5 million under the settlement. In fact, the payouts would be wide-ranging, based on the ex-player’s age and diagnosis.

For example, younger ex-players with severe dementia would get $3 million, while an 80-year-old with early dementia would receive $25,000. Regardless, DeVader said fortune-seekers see opportunity in the 68-year-old Wright.

“It was like them [players] winning the lottery,” she said. “I have nothing to gain. I’m not getting a piece of that, nothing, from Rayfield. What I’m trying to do is protect him, like he once protected Roger Staubach.”

Mistakes were made

That so many ex-players need care and protection is among many concerns of former players and their families, which is why the Retired NFL Players Congress, Inc. was formed.

Several players noted that if their pension and healthcare benefits were even remotely in line with those of their MLB and NBA counterparts, there wouldn’t be a reason to meet.

“The pensions themselves are low, there’s no question about that,” Wright said. “The players back in our era, we’re the ones that built the National Football League. And we should be taken care of.”

Reporters were not allowed to hear Staubach’s Saturday morning keynote address. Beforehand, Staubach told reporters that he primarily planned to discuss his playing career and business-world experiences.

“I’m part of this fraternity, and I’m privileged that they asked me to say a few words,” he said, adding that his speech would be “mostly a fun talk. Not getting into some of the more serious issues going on in the NFL today.”

Such as the current concussions and pain-killer lawsuits, or pensions and healthcare — not that Staubach doesn’t empathize with his playing brethren.

He recalls the two-month player strike prior to the 1974 season. He said the players union’s battle cry was free agency, even producing a “No Freedom, No Football” logo.

“We should have gone after greater [pension and healthcare] benefits,” Staubach said. “Because the players of today aren’t looking back to try to compensate the players of yesterday.”

“So the players that were going after free agency weren’t there when free agency came,” Staubach said. “And they sacrificed some of the benefits. So that definitely was a mistake.”

Staubach said he would like to see that mistake corrected, but that the only way it can happen is if current players vote to amend the collective bargaining agreement and allocate more money to support retired players.

“Whether that’s going to happen or not, it sure isn’t going in that direction right now,” he said.

A cruel disease

Many of the former players who came to Arlington have fought for decades to right old wrongs. Meanwhile, the effects of playing a brutal sport accrue.

Summit attendees’ eyes moistened Friday as the three wives and DeVader spoke about the struggles of caring for former players Fred McNeill, Steve Smith, Terry Owens and Wright.

All expressed gratitude to the Retired Players Congress for creating a support system, including a partnership with nationally recognized memory care provider Silverado, which has locations in eight states, including Texas.

McNeill, a Vikings linebacker from 1974-85, was diagnosed with early onset dementia in 2009.

Smith, a running back, was a co-captain on Penn State’s 1986 national title team, then played 10 NFL seasons for the Raiders and Seahawks. He was diagnosed with ALS in 2002, the year he and wife Chie and their two children moved to Plano.

They have lived in Richardson since 2004. Steve is on a ventilator and can only speak through a computer.

Owens was a Chargers offensive lineman from 1966 to 1975. Diagnosed with early onset dementia in 2008, he died in October 2012.

His wife, Alison, drove from Alabama this week to attend the summit. She and Terry decided to donate his brain for concussion research. Alison encouraged summit attendees to do likewise, if they find themselves in the same circumstance.

Alison stayed at the Smith’s home this week.

“Chie is so great with Steve,” she said. “I watch her and she soldiers on right now, kind of what I was doing. Seeing her do it is so sad, but she doesn’t have time to be sad.”

Moderating the panel was Retired Players Congress VP Jane Arnett, whose husband Jon was an NFL running back from 1957 to 1966.

Jon, 79, has no major health problems, but Jane has been a tireless outreach supporter and advocate for NFL families, especially wives, since 2002, after learning that Hall of Famer Dick “Night Train” Lane died penniless in Austin.

“This network has grown and grown,” Jane Arnett said. “And what I have found are some of the most amazing women, women who are hanging in there, doing what they can.

“It is an amazing, beautiful, strong group of women.”

Former players who congregated in Arlington stood and applauded, some perhaps wondering if they’d glimpsed their future.

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